by Susan Lippe

Tag Archives: Safety

A couple weeks ago I ordered The Study Quran to be delivered to my house. Then, the day before it was to arrive, it started to rain. I had to drive to FW early and wasn’t going to be home to receive the Quran.

I got home just now, and the book is safe and sound in my house now. I don’t know why I thought some jerk was going to come deface my Quran. Or why I thought that a hidden Quran alone in the world would be in danger.
But the lessons we’ve learned today are:1. Me gustan mis vecinos. (I love my neighbors.)
2. THIS Quran is safe for now.
3. I was a WRECK worrying about my BOOK. Imagine how people with Muslim CHILDREN must feel.

This post isn’t about loving Israel, though I do.
This post isn’t about a specific cease fire I’m praying for, though I do.
This post isn’t about picking sides.

Today, I read this sad article, which describes the Israeli citizen response to an arson attack on a school in Jerusalem. The school is the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Bilingual School. Here is their website.

I guess I should be happy that the first thing on the school’s website is a thank you note from the school staff. They thank everyone for the support since the attack and describe how they are progressing in their response and recovery.

A few weeks ago I posted a request on my FB page. I asked for people to post their favorite organizations that brought Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis together. No one responded. I can think of a few projects, but I wanted to know where other people find hope and inspiration. But there was no response, no hope, no inspiration.

This school is one of the most exciting projects out there.

A few summers ago, a camp friend of mine told me about the Hand in Hand school. She is a teacher at the school. (I’m not mentioning her name here because I don’t want to expose her to arson or any stupid internet hate.) The school is so cool. Here are the first words of their mission: “Building shared society. One school, one community at a time. Our Mission at Hand in Hand is to create a strong, inclusive, shared society in Israel through a network of Jewish-Arab integrated bilingual schools and organized communities.” (Read the rest of their mission here.) This school works with students and families of different backgrounds, different religions, languages, ethnicities, etc. Through meaningful education, this school brings people closer together, closer to peace.

And THAT is why stupid racists lit their classrooms on fire.

Now I’m mad. Usually, I try not to get too mad. Anger erodes my ability to think before I speak. But I’m mad now.

What will I do with this anger? I’m not sure yet, but I wanted to make sure that I told all y’all about it. Mostly, I want you all to know about this amazing school. There are awesome people out there working hard to bring Jews and Arabs together in Israel.

About the arson, I’m not sure what I want to do yet. I’m going to find something productive to do about this. I’m sick of racism. It’s dangerous, in America, in Israel, everywhere. We have to do something big, something different, something soon.